lullay, moon prince
by redyarns
Summary: The moon was lonely, he thought. But truthfully, he thought that the beautiful prince Shouto was even lonelier. So Izuku was going to stretch his wings and fly him far, far away from the castle and father that confined him, and together, maybe even Izuku's stone fingers could touch the stars right along with Shouto.
1. Chapter 1

Shouto never really entered the west wing. Not because it was forbidden to go to, or something as ridiculous as that. It was just because with all of his duties as the next king and his father's (painful) sparring lessons, he hardly had any time to spare and go explore any parts of the castle he hadn't been to before.

But today he had a good reason to go.

The king was unusually foul-mouthed and bad-tempered today. That isn't to say he's ever been particularly nice, but today was far worse than any other day. Probably because Shouto had snuck into the library last night and discreetly set fire to some of the letters talking about possible betrothal between him and some far off princess. But whatever, the point was that the prince had all but fled to escape his father's enraged screams.

Shouto was sure that another hit would break him - their doctor, although the best one in the kingdom, could only treat so much. His skin was already littered with bruises. He didn't need more.

The west wing of the castle was surprisingly dark and dusty when he walked past the stone stairs and peered into the large and vast hallway. It was to be expected, he supposed. The castle was large, almost obscenely so, and no one bothered with the west side when the king obviously preferred the east.

Still, as he walked down the hall, his boots clacking softly against the concrete floor, he was filled with regret and also resentment when he saw the many portraits of the Todoroki lineage gathering dust among the walls. Of course his father wouldn't bother to honor their family - after all, to him, all that mattered was himself and the power he could gain.

Shouto doubted his father could even name any of the proud kings and queens standing in the portraits, while the prince could list them all off one by one. Enji was a dark stain in the Todoroki line, but other than his disgusting father, Shouto was proud of his family and what they accomplished.

It just astonished him how his grandparents, who had been so loving and kind, could sire a son as spiteful and hateful as Enji.

The rooms, as also expected, were just as dusty. That was disappointing. He reminded himself to tell the staff to start paying attention more to the wing. It was horrible to see his lineage wasting away because of his father's ignorance.

Shouto eventually came upon the last door of the hall, and he knew it led outside. He wasn't sure what would greet him - the gardens at the front of the castle were trimmed and proper, but he had no idea what was on the other side of the door because of the negligence of the servants.

He pushed.

He gasped.

The gardens, having been left unattended for so long, became wild. Great looming trees bearing sweet fruits towered over him, their branches straining to accomodate for the many apples or oranges hanging from the wood, bright with ripeness and ready to be picked. Vines crawled up the sides of the stone wall, and when he took an awed step closer, he could see the crooked and rusty iron gates to the once tamed garden. Vines that had wrapped around the bars of the gate were blooming small flowers, and bushes were overgrown with their own blooms.

The garden his father put in so much work for was laughable compared to the beauty of this one.

Shouto made his way past the iron gates, managing to squeeze himself through the rusty bars, and stumbled over himself as he was greeted with even more wildlife.

He fell to his knees, uncaring of the fact that his clothes were definitely going to get grass stains, and cusped a white rose in his hands. The thorns pricked dangerously at his skin, but he didn't care.

These roses, so beautiful and in bloom, were as pure and white as his mother. The gentle queen who had been corrupted by his disgusting excuse of a father.

He huffed, sat up, and continued wandering further into the overgrowth.

When he came upon a thick and long bush, he crouched, peeking under to see that somehow miraculously, the branches grew in an arc and created a perfect little tunnel.

His skin tingled with excitement and emotions he hadn't felt since the days his mother was with him and he played with his older siblings. Shouto shed off the red robe from his shoulders, tossing it carelessly to the side, doing the same for his glinting crown and wrapping his robe around it. No thief would dare trespass so deep into the royal grounds.

Shouto came to his hands and knees, and he began to crawl underneath the twisting yet arching branches, squinting his eyes to see the slowly getting larger light at the end that signified the exit.

When he finally crawled all the way through, he failed to see the slope that went down, and he tumbled on his side, surprised laughter somehow forcing its way past his lips and filling the air with his mirth.

He finally stilled, breathless, dizzy, and grinning madly at the sky while he tried to even out his panting.

Finally, he sat up, and looked around him.

The first thing that came to mind was that he was in a small meadow - the slowly setting sun was casting pink and golden rays of light onto the grassy land, and when he stretched his legs, he could see the many wild flowers growing underneath him. It was pretty, but in a different way from the garden above them.

The second thing that came to mind was that there was a statue right in the middle of it all.

Shouto rose to his feet, eyes slightly wide with awe, and he walked over slowly to observe the statue.

It was of a young boy - close to Shouto's age, just past the age of manhood. His curly and wild hair framed his soft, freckled face, his eyes closed as he smiled and cusped something that couldn't be seen close to his chest. Large, arching wings made of feathers graced his back, tipping up to the sky and pointing at something.

The statue looked almost alive in the dimming light of the now almost fully set sun.

Shouto climbed onto the pedestal with it, even smiling lightly at the fact that the boy, though his head was slightly bowed, was shorter than him.

The statue, he admitted to himself, was the most beautiful thing in the meadow.

Shouto placed a gentle hand on the boy's cheek, and even though the carvings were so lifelike, he could only feel hard and cold stone beneath his skin.

He swallowed through his disappointment.

"You will be my friend," he said out loud, and immediately felt silly. The boy was a mere statue, made of stone and not life.

This was immediately thrown out the window when, underneath Shouto's hand, the statue moved, and slowly, the boy opened his once still and closed eyes to smile shyly at the frozen and shocked prince.

"Really?"

The voice of a statue, Shouto thought vaguely, was not one that he would have expected. It wasn't grainy or rough, like someone with a throat of rock might sound like, but it was just normal. The voice of the boy was that of a regular person, smooth and lively and _did he mention alive._

Shouto scrambled back so fast that his feet slipped, his back falling into the grassy ground and knocking a small "oof," out of his lips.

"Ah! Oh my god, oh my god!" The boy squawked frantically, his wings fluttering like a chicken behind him and his arms flailing even more wildly. "Oh my god, are you okay? Oh god Kacchan was right, I should really be more subtle! I'm so, so, sorry, I really didn't mean to, it's just that you got me so excited because I haven't had a new friend in a long time and I never saw you here before, who are you? My name's Midoriya Izuku, but you can just call me Izuku, because no one calls me Midoriya anymore since we all knew each other for so long that it's weird for me to hear that now - "

"Wait," Shouto finally managed to somehow say, and he slowly sat up, clothes frumpled and his eyes unwavering as he stared at the statue.

The boy - Izuku? Shouto barely managed to keep up with the speed of his words - seemed to get even more flustered. He curled a wing around him halfway and tugged at the feathers, his voice slightly shaky as he said, "ah, I'm so sorry! I tend to ramble when I'm nervous."

Shouto nodded slowly. "Right. Er, you said your name was Izuku."

The boy beamed proudly. "I am!"

"You're…" Shouto stared very pointedly at Izuku's body. "You're a _statue._ "

"Erm," Izuku squirmed, his cheeks even somehow going a dark grey, almost black. Was he blushing? "I, uh, am. Yes. Yup. Made of stone."

As if to prove his point, Izuku raised his arm and knocked his knuckles on it - the sound was that of two rocks scraping against each other. Izuku smiled sheepishly at the prince. "I-I come alive when the sun sets, but then I go back to being a statue when morning comes. See? I don't think you realized it, but it's night time now."

Shouto raised his eyes, and true enough, the sky was inky black with stars twinkling down like little gems. The moon, bright and only a quarter full, was lazily climbing its way up, shining silver light upon both of them.

"Oh," Shouto simply said. Then he looked up at the statue, tilted his head, and quietly, he asked, "do you really want to be friends?"

"Of course I do!"

Shouto blinked, and Izuku's wings fluttered nervously, having realized that his enthusiasm made his voice louder than needed. Izuku fidgeted, and at a more normal volume, he said, "I always want more friends."

Shouto blinked. "I don't have any."

" _What?_ "

"My father's philosophy is that I should focus on my duties," Shouto paused to pick absentmindedly at some flowers. "Friends are a distraction. That's his way of parenting."

There was silence.

"That's a load of bullshit!"

Shouto startled at the sudden curse, and he looked up to see Izuku staring with wide eyes at him, wings stretched out and his face leaning in close. "That's not a father, that's a dictator. You and I are going to be _best friends_ , okay? I'll get you to meet all of my other friends, and then you'll have so many friends that you'll die - okay, maybe not die, please don't die - of friendship!"

Shouto's mouth was admittedly gaping a little as he stared at this stone angel. The boy's face was set with determination, and suddenly, he realized that despite him literally being made of stone, Izuku was far more compassionate than his father. His eyes sparked with life, and when he reached out a hand to help Shouto up, he couldn't refuse.

His chest thumped with warmth, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He laid his hand in Izuku's, the stone no longer cold, but almost soft and heated with life.

"You said the word 'friends' at least four times," the prince huffed gently, but his eyes were wide and honest as well as amused.

Izuku smiled sheepishly.

"Okay, then," Shouto said softly, and his lips twitched up slightly. "My name is Shouto."

"Nice to meet you, Shouto! Oh, um, well, can I call you Shoucchan?" Izuku blabbed, grasping Shouto strongly and lifting him fully to his feet. "It's just that since we're going to be best friends I want to give you a nickname, unless you don't want me to, but I think it's cute - n-not that I'm saying you're cute, NOT THAT I MEAN YOU'RE NOT CUTE - "

"Izuku," Shouto finally managed to say, his cheeks (mortifyingly) hot and the heat traveling suspiciously up to his ears. To be fair, the stone boy wasn't any better, his feathers roughly ruffled and his face almost completely dark with his own version of a blush. "S… Shoucchan is fine. I, um. I just never really had a nickname before."

"W-Well, now you do!" Izuku beamed.

Izuku clamored down from the pedestal clumsily, even somehow managing to knock Shouto in the shoulder with a gentle wing.

Many apologies and "it's fine, Izuku, really"s later, they were sitting on the grass, only an inch of air between them and laughing loudly - at least in Izuku's case - as they pointed out stars and their constellations.

"Are you really the prince of this castle?"

"Unfortunately."

"Oh."

"Mm."

"They should be getting here soon," Izuku hummed as his wing pointed out Cancer, thankfully dropping the subject of Shouto's royal blood alone.

"Who?" Shouto said, slurring his words accidentally. He felt peaceful for the first time in a long time - the nights spent in his room weren't focused on sleeping, for he couldn't. He was always fearful of his father bursting in as a surprise sparring session. After it happened so many times, he gave up completely on sleeping, and instead came to spend the night time taking short naps or working himself to the death with his latest lessons.

"Shoucchan," Izuku said in a sing-song voice, and Shouto merely rolled over so his face was looking at him.

Shouto had never felt this comfortable before, except for maybe when his mother was still with him. The air was filled with Izuku's slow breathing, the far away sound of crickets chirping quietly, and the warm summer night was making him so drowsy.

"You're a strange one, Shoucchan."

Tentatively, stone fingers brushed several wisps of red and white hair away from Shouto's half-lidded eyes. Izuku smiled nervously at him.

"You're weirder," Shouto said petulantly in response, but his tone was teasing, and his eyes fully slipped closed as Izuku's hand continued to fiddle gently with his hair. How was it that someone made of stone could have a touch softer than that of his father, who had warm skin? Maybe it was because underneath the rock of his body, Izuku had a far more tender heart than that of the king.

Izuku laughed at the semi-insult, and Shouto could feel his own lips pull up into a smile.

"Sleep, my prince. I'll be here when you wake up - my friends will be here in a little while, but I'm sure you'd appreciate the sleep." Izuku cooed gently, and oh my god, Shouto thought. Forget tender - Izuku's heart was made of actual gold.

"Father will be looking for me," Shouto whispered as he started to fall into the arms of sleep. "He will destroy this garden if he realizes what it means to me."

Izuku only laughed. "I'm made of stone, Shoucchan. I can handle whatever your dad throws at me."

"Hmm," Shouto hummed drowsily in response.

As Izuku kept threading his fingers through his hair, the boy made of stone began to hum gently, not really quite singing but the words half-murmured. It was a lovely song. The gentle melody was reminiscent of a lullaby, and before he knew it, Shouto was falling completely into sleep.

It felt like only a minute later, and Shouto woke up like it was a chore.

Hands that were warm yet firmer than normal skin were gently shaking him awake, poking at his cheek and then stroking his hair.

"Shoucchan."

Shouto merely groaned softly and curled up into a tighter ball, blindly groping with his hand for whoever was waking him up to continue moving through his hair. "Hmm."

"Deku-kun, are you sure we should wake him up? He looks so peaceful."

"Deku, who the fuck is this? Fucking humans entering our territory, I'll kill him!"

"Oi, Eijiro, control your boyfriend!"

"Katsuki, please be quiet. It's not manly to be so rude."

"... Okay."

"Whipped."

"SHUT UP, FRIZZY HAIR!"

"Shut up," Shouto mumbled, repeating the boy who had just shouted at the top of his lungs. Slowly, he blinked his eyes awake, focusing on Izuku's beaming face, who was hovering over him with hands outstretched in his hair.

"Shoucchan! You're awake," Izuku said, and oh god, Shouto thought. He was a lot cuter than he remembered before he fell asleep.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Shouto asked, accepting Izuku's hand and letting the stone boy pull him gently into a sitting position. Shouto yawned and rubbed an eye with his hand, grumbling at the drowsiness that still ran through his body.

"U-Um," Izuku squeaked, his eyes wide as he stared at Shouto with a blush on his face. Izuku cleared his throat before saying, "just an hour or two. I woke you up because, um, well my friends are all here now!"

Shouto blinked slowly, before fully processing what Izuku had just said. "... What?"

Izuku grinned (oh my god he had dimples), and made a sweeping motion with both his hands and wings. "Shoucchan, these are all my friends! Everyone, this is Shouto, he's the prince!"

"Wow!" A girl with short, brown hair and wide eyes said in genuine awe. Her voice was bubbly, and judging by her jazz hands, her personality was just as optimistic. "You're a real prince! Deku-kun, you really know how to pick them!"

" _Ochako-san!_ " Izuku sputtered with a dark face.

Shouto's own cheeks were warm as the girl merely grinned and then bounced over to him, sticking out a hand. "Hi! I'm Uraraka Ochako, but just Ochako is okay. It's nice to meet you, Shouto-kun!"

"Um, yes," Shouto said faintly as he shook the girl's hand. He was just distracted by the rather large and see-through wings that protruded from Ochako's back, the appendages fluttering lightly in the warm summer wind. "You're…"

"A fairy!" Ochako chirped. "Yeah. I've got some magic, but I'm nothing compared to a lot of other people here."

"Shut the hell up, angel-face," a blond boy barked, his face irritated, voice even more so, and his arm swung possessively around another boy who looked like a cross between a human and a dragon. "Your magic's fuckin' fine. Stop spewing that 'I'm weak' bullshit."

"Aw!" Ochako said sweetly, and she laughed, her wings fluttering even more, emitting a faint pink glow. "Katsuki, you _do_ care!"

"SHUT UP!"

"A-Ah," Izuku sputtered, moving closer to Shouto and waving his hands around a little frantically. "Sorry, I-I know they can seem overwhelming, but that's Ochako-san, and that's Kacchan, the guy she's arguing with, and next to him is Eijiro-kun - "

"It's awesome to meet you, Shouto! You seem like a real man!"

"And that's Tsuyu-chan…"

" _Ribbit._ Hello, Shouto-kun."

"Tenya-san's over there - "

"I am honored to meet you, my prince!"

There were quite a lot of names that Izuku kept listing. Shouto, though, was eager to learn them all. They were all so _fascinating_ \- for as far as the eye could see, he saw so many different and magical things about them. How Eijiro was apparently a dragon, Katsuki was a wizard with a knack for explosions, Mina was part-demon.

"I didn't know there were so many people like this in the world," Shouto said quietly, and he watched as the field grew in volume, all of them finding joy in each other and exchanging stories of what was recent in their lives.

"Oh, well," Izuku said shyly, and he sat even closer to Shouto, the tips of his wings just barely brushing against the prince's arm. Shouto tried to ignore the tingles that ran up his side - it didn't work. "We tend to keep out of sight, because, uh, you know. Sometimes humans can be…"

"Inhumane," Shouto finished before Izuku could finish. He raised a hand almost subconsciously to touch the smooth and shiny scar around his left eye. His father's face flickered into mind.

Shouto's face soured at the thought, and he said very quietly to Izuku, "your left side is unsightly, my mother said as she poured boiling water onto my face. It was her rejecting my father's blood, because he's a monster in human's skin. When I become king, I will erase any moment of his existence. He drove my mother to the point of breaking, and my siblings cower in his presence. I will _never_ be like him."

Izuku breathed in for a moment, his tense shoulders somewhat relaxing, before he said, "I'm glad you aren't swayed by him. You're you, not your father, aren't you? I'm sure you'll create a legacy that'll be remembered than whatever forgotten one he made."

Izuku turned to him, grinning, eyes shining brightly in the moonlight and his wings fluttering with an emotion Shouto couldn't quite name. "I'll stand by you, Shoucchan! I know we only met recently, but I don't break promises. As your best friend, I will always be behind you, and I will try my best to help you. That's my swear to you."

Shouto's breath hitched, and in his chest and stomach, it felt as if a million butterflies made of stardust exploded and began to fly around nervously. His heart beat fast, too fast for it to be healthy, and he vaguely wondered if he was experiencing some type of illness. Izuku's hand was made of stone - it wasn't soft or even really alive, but when Shouto grasped it gently, the touch was far more gentle than that of anyone else he had come in contact with.

Izuku was magic. Not concerning the fact that he was made of magic - no, instead, he was lighting up Shouto's lonely world one candle at a time, all while smiling broadly and offering him soft touches. It was strange how this whole world of warmth and _friends_ was hidden just beyond his reach, but now that Shouto had gotten a taste of it, he was going to latch on desperately and never let go.

Like Izuku said, they'd met only that night, but under the moonlight filled with the laughs and smiles of his - their - friends, Shouto finally allowed himself to let out the biggest and silliest grin he had ever let onto his lips.

 **XxXxXxXxXxX**

**Haha this is my first time writing for BNHA hope I don't mess up too badly.**

 **Follow me on tumblr at redyarns if you wanna see previews and other updates!**

 **I update sporadically so I apologize in advance.**


	2. Chapter 2

Shouto woke up to find himself curled up tightly at the base of the stone pedestal. He blinked slowly, drawing the blanket tighter around his shoulders that Momo had kindly made for him when he mentioned being chilly despite the warmth of the summer night.

The field was left in perfect condition, looking exactly as he had first seen. There was no indication of what had happened last night except for the blanket held taut around Shouto's body and his own memories.

The young prince looked up, and he pursed his lips at what he saw.

Izuku stood on his pedestal, eyes closed once more, hands cupped at his chest and his wings arching gracefully to point at the morning sun. He looked beautiful, but the memories of his gentle touches and dimpled smiles were far more lovely in Shouto's opinion.

Shouto climbed up onto the slab next to the stone angel, and he laid a hand on his cheek, just like he had done the night before.

"Maybe I was dreaming the whole time," Shouto said out loud. "It would make the most sense. My longing for friends maybe drove me to insanity."

He hesitated.

"But I still remember everything you said," Shouto murmured gently, and he leaned even closer, his hair brushing against Izuku's face. "And I still remember every touch."

Shouto pressed their heads together, and his throat closed up as he felt nothing but cold stone. "I don't know if you can hear me while you're like this, but last night, you promised to stand by my side. I promise to stand right by you as well."

Shouto let out a shuddering sigh as the boy stood silent against him. He pressed even closer, hoping that the warmth from his skin would reach Izuku, even through the lifelessness of the stone. "I'll be back tonight. I'm sorry I have to go in the first place and can't wait for you to be with me again, but my father… if he ever discovers this garden, if he ever discovers _you_ , he will destroy it all. I… I hope to see both you and the rest of our friends tonight."

Shouto brushed a thumb under Izuku's closed eyes, and he frowned. "I miss your eyes."

He hopped off of the pedestal, and he took a last sweeping gaze around the field. He could still vividly see what had happened the night before - the feeling of friendship and magic never left him, and with that thought in mind, he began his climb up the short slope and then crawled through the bush tunnel once more, this time going back.

His robe and crown was there as he had left it, and hastily he fastened the red cloth over his shoulders once more, fixing the crown on his head, and scrambled into the door of the castle.

With each step he took, the brightness of the garden and its secrets began to muddle. It was like the castle and his father were the mud, clogging his memories and his joy, which frightened him more than anything he had ever felt before. He had just gotten Izuku and his friends mere hours ago - he would _never_ let his father take them from him.

Shouto was attached, something the king was vehemently and adamantly against. He was already to protective, so ready to go against his father just to protect people he had only met so recently. How could anyone fight for someone they didn't even know that well? How could he think it, when he knew what his father's anger tasted like at first hand, and how his father viewed friends and loved ones as a weakness?

He didn't care.

Shouto _didn't care_.

His father already took his mother and siblings away. The king's eyes were always fixated on something ahead of him, something Shouto couldn't see or even understand, his glare filled with hate, and Shouto knew what that hate felt like when it was directed at someone. The bruises that littered his body was enough testament to that.

Izuku said he would stand by Shouto's side.

Shouto returned that promise, and he had every intention of keeping it.

"Prince Shouto! Your highness, oh, thank goodness, please, your father is furious, young lord - "

"I'm well aware," Shouto said calmly as he was confronted by the frantic servant stumbling to greet him once Shouto had left the west wing and was moving to his father's study. The prince eyed the servant's shaken appearance and his wide, tear-filled eyes. "Please, go rest. My father I can handle."

"But - "

"His anger will not dispel for a while." Shouto interrupted serenely, and the only indication of his nervousness was the fist curled tightly at his side, hidden by his cloak. "I will handle him. Tell the other staff that today is their day off - avoid my father at all costs."

"Oh, young prince," the servant began to weep. "You're going to be a great king."

Shouto merely smiled slightly.

The servant scrambled off, his sniffles still in the air, hurriedly making his way to seemingly what was the other staff.

Shouto slowly began his walk to his destination. His face was passive and didn't display his true thoughts, but if anyone looked closely, they would have seen the shuddering of his breath and the hesitance in his movement as he approached the large door of his father's study and knocked twice.

"What is it."

The gruff tone of the king was enough to let Shouto know he would surely get more bruises tonight.

Breathing in shakily, Shouto steeled himself.

He would protect that garden.

His father could _not know_ the treasures that lay beyond the abandoned west wing.

"It's me, father," Shouto said through the door. "I've come to explain myself."

"... Enter."

Shouto opened the door, slipped in, and closed it silently behind him.

Todoroki Enji was a cruel man, Shouto thought bitterly to himself as he walked closer to his father's desk and bowed at the waist. The king sat at his chair, his presence large and intimidating, even if he wasn't standing. His father's eyes were a sharp and cold blue that stared at Shouto with nothing even close to resembling love. His hair, the striking red that many had claimed was the trademark of the Todoroki lineage, reminded Shouto of fire. Fierce, powerful, and _burning_.

Shouto had to hold back a growl at the fact that he had inherited this man's blood, half his hair, half his eyes. It wasn't the first time he wished he had looked completely like his mother. Maybe then, she wouldn't have come to hate his left side and poured that water down his face.

His scar tingling with phantom pain of that night, Shouto straightened, never looking at his father's eyes directly. Instead, he focused on the large scowl set what seemed like permanently on the king's lips.

"You are late," his father spat. "And you look absolutely _disgusting._ "

Shouto held in his grimace as he glanced down to see the multiple grass stains adorning his wrinkled and once beautiful clothes.

"Where have you been, Shouto? Have I not told you multiple times my expectations of you? You weren't in your bedroom, and nor were you in the training field." The king slammed his fist onto the desk, rattling it greatly and causing more than a few papers to slip off onto the floor. Shouto's father roared, "I will punish you greatly for disrespecting me like this! As the future ruler of Endeavor, you will be _perfect!_ You are my tool to use, my clay to mold. You are my son, and you will act like it, instead of rolling around in what seems to be the gardens like some mangy dog!"

Shouto's head shot up at the mention of the garden, and he swear he felt his heart stop, even if he knew that his father was talking about the public garden at the front of the castle rather than the secret one that Shouto had discovered. It was different from what he had felt with Izuku - yes, his heart had paused, but he had adored the feeling. To him, Izuku had given him friends, something he had never had but craved for for so long, and Izuku didn't look at him like his father was doing right now. Izuku's gentle eyes were kind, warm, flicking with love for his friends and his smiles wide and earnest.

Shouto couldn't lose him.

Shouto couldn't lose _any_ of them.

So Shouto swallowed, and pulling on a mask of indifference, his voice was monotone as he said calmly, "I was practicing my footwork."

This seemed to calm his father significantly, but his eyes were suspicious as he demanded, "where?"

"In the forest. You always told me to surprise the enemy." Shouto bowed at his waist once more, and resisted the urge to snarl. "When sparring, _you_ are my opponent. I have to catch you off guard."

There was silence.

Then the booming bark of his father's laughter. The king was laughing, but it was filled with anything but mirth of amusement. His eyes glinted greedily and in satisfaction as he said, "I see. We will test your method later when we go to the training grounds. Now, leave. I have all these damn papers to answer."

Shouto almost sighed out loud in relief. Instead, he straightened his spine, nodded, and before he could spin on his heel to get the hell out, he paused as he saw a paper that had fallen off of his father's desk in his momentary anger. Shouto bent down to pick it up, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"Father, the one who wrote this letter is threatening for your assassination," Shouto frowned.

"Leave it," the king merely barked, unconcerned as he glared at the paper in Shouto's hands. "Those puny underlings don't know what I am capable of."

Shouto swallowed, not in fear for his father's life, but anger at the king's arrogance. Gritting his teeth, the young prince tucked the letter away into his pocket, and he left without another word.

 **XxXxXxXxXxX**

The day had never dragged on for as slow as it felt to Shouto. The underlying argument and fight for dominance in his conversation with the king had drained him of almost all his energy.

Shouto locked himself in his room, and rather than spending that time to prepare himself for the early sparring session tomorrow or studying his kingdom's history like he usually would have done, the prince instead spent the day either daydreaming about the garden or contemplating the consequences of climbing out his window to sneak back to the wild garden.

He'd done the math multiple times, and unfortunately, it wasn't possible. His room was too high up, and the drop was close to at least a hundred feet. He wouldn't survive it at all. Of course, maybe if he could tie all of his robes together, then maybe.

But he also calculated the whole length of all his robes together, and it was short by about forty feet.

As such, Shouto spent most of his time staring out his open window, closing his eyes and remembering the unforgettable events of the night before whenever he felt the warm summer breeze flowing in.

He wished he could leave the castle and his father's presence to go into Izuku's garden, even if the boy was still a statue and their friends wouldn't be back until night fell.

He just… Shouto let out a huff of frustration and stared - almost glaring - at the far away ground below his window. Shouto _missed him_. Shouto missed Izuku. It was strange. Even if they had met only the night before, it was like the prince was already more than attached to the stone angel. The craving he had been denying for so long ever since his mother and siblings were sent away had been cured with just that one touch from Izuku.

And his words.

 _"You're not your father."_

Shouto didn't realize how much he had needed to hear that sentence until Izuku had said it.

It was true, wasn't it? His father may have given him his blood and one of his eyes, but he didn't give him _life_. His father brutally taught him how to survive, never how to enjoy life and its wonders. No, it was his mother who had done that, but after she was taken away, it was now Izuku. Shouto's hands almost tingled with the phantom sensation of Izuku's stone cheek underneath his skin.

He had to take a moment to take a breath - he missed Izuku so much that it _ached_.

He just wanted to get away from his father, away from the bruises on his arms and back.

When the sun finally began its slow descent into the horizon, Shouto thought he was going to shout in excitement. He didn't, but he felt a smile begin to tug at his lips as he bolted out of his room, closing the door quietly behind him as to not alert any staff nearby who would tell his father that he was leaving so suddenly.

Shouto began his ascent to the west wing, taking time every few minutes to take a sweeping look around him and making sure that no one noticed where he was going. For him to go to the part of the castle that not even the staff went to would surely raise suspicion.

When Shouto burst out into the overgrown garden once more, he felt like he could breathe for the first time in hours. The sweet scent of ripe fruits filled the air, and immediately, he dropped both his cloak and crown immediately when he wiggled past the rusty iron gate once more and approached the bush tunnel again. He didn't want his friends to look at his royal blood once he crawled to the other side - rather, he liked them to think of him as just Shouto, the name that his mother had lovingly gave him. The name Todoroki shouldn't ever fall from their mouths when they see him, not when that name was the one given to him by his father.

Shouto felt almost free as he dropped the crown carelessly into his thrown-aside robes on the ground.

He dropped to his hands and knees, and quietly, he began to crawl through the tunnel.

He anticipated the drop of the hill at the end, and managed to slide down somewhat gracefully, smiling lightly as he realized that grass stains were yet again going to muddle his newly cleaned clothes that he had pulled on after going to his room.

He didn't care.

It was just evidence that it was all real, that he truly did discover this magical garden and its even more magical inhabitants.

"Hello, Izuku," Shouto said as he walked over to greet the still statue of the boy. He hadn't moved at all since the morning, eyes closed and wings arching, but Shouto wasn't too bothered. Shouto climbed up to join the statue, and he stood close, wanting to witness the first moments of Izuku coming back once more.

He glanced up at the sky, smile growing even wider at the darkening sky. The sun had almost completely set by this point, and the air became cooler as fireflies began to light themselves up.

Shouto leaned close to Izuku, and like the morning, he raised a hand to lay on his cheek before pressing their foreheads together.

The stone underneath his hand shuddered, and Shouto let out a breathless laugh. "You're back."

Eyes slowly flickered open, hands dropping from their permanent position, and wings of large feathers twitched as Izuku slowly but surely came to become the boy that had touched Shouto so gently the night before.

"Shoucchan," Izuku mumbled, and it seemed he was still rather out of it as he looked up at Shouto with dazed eyes.

"I'm here," Shouto in a tender tone.

"You're… _YOU'RE HERE!_ "

Shouto was startled as Izuku practically screamed the second part of his sentence, the statue's wings flapping awkwardly as Izuku's whole face darkened with a blush. Clumsily, Izuku fell off of the pedestal, and for a moment Shouto was filled with a shocking fear.

What if Izuku broke? _Could_ he break? It was then at that second that Shouto realized; stone may be strong, but it was also delicate, and he was _so afraid_ that Izuku would get hurt.

Luckily, that didn't seem the case, as there was a low moaning sound before the top of Izuku's head poked up to stare sheepishly at Shouto. "Um, hello."

"Izuku," Shouto breathed, and he was quick to walk over and help him up. "You're… not hurt. I thought you the fall would've broken you."

"Ah, well," Izuku blushed once more in embarrassment. "Um, yes, I can break. Kind of comes with being made of stone, you know? But I have some resilience, I won't smash into pieces from a small trip like that, so no worries!"

Shouto fully relaxed, and with a tentative smile, he asked, "can I ask why you're like this in the first place?"

Izuku's wings slumped, limp against his back. "Oh."

Shouto immediately regretted asking. "If it's too much trouble, then - "

"NO!"

Shouto startled at the shout, and evidently was Izuku, who was flustered at the sound of his own voice. Izuku coughed nervously and then gently grasped Shouto's hand to lead him to the side, sitting down before being almost immediately covered in several fireflies.

"I, um. Well," Izuku began. His hand hadn't let go of Shouto yet, and the prince had absolutely no qualms against it. Instead, he leaned even closer, taking utter delight in the shudder that ran through Izuku's body from his close proximity. "It's kind of a long story. I'll tell you all of it one day, but… I'm cursed. I-It's okay! It's honestly not as bad as it could have been, though I do miss feeling sunlight, haha. Um. So. I-I made a deal with a witch, basically - a person very close to me was really sick. He didn't have much time left, and I had to do something. He was going to die in my hands if I didn't at least try to fix it all, especially since it was my fault he was in that situation in the first place."

Shouto watched silently as Izuku raised a stone hand to laid out in complete stillness, as if caught in a permanent pose once more, and amazingly, even more fireflies climbed over his fingers, their gentle green lights illuminating their faces softly.

"His life in exchange for mine," Izuku said quietly. "That was the deal she offered, and I accepted. It didn't matter to me if I was going to be a statue for the rest of my life - you know, as a sort of mock, she gave me these wings."

Izuku flexed his large wings in question, and when the right one brushed against the back of his neck from the movement, he shivered. The stone feathers were somehow soft instead of hard, like actual feathers, if a little firmer.

"'Wings for an angelic boy and a golden heart,' she said before she sealed the contract. I was going to stay a statue for the rest of… however long I lasted, and in return, the person who was dear to me would gain back full health."

"Then how are you - " Shouto gestured to him as a whole, then pointing up at the slowly rising moon.

"Oh," Izuku grinned, and his freckles were adorning his cheeks so perfectly that Shouto felt a little flustered from such a wide and perfect grin. "That was Kacchan, actually! He's a really powerful wizard, you know. I know he can be, um - "

"A dick," Shouto cut in.

"Yes," Izuku giggled. "But he's one of my best friends - they all are. Kacchan may have a rough outside but he's got a good heart. He and the rest of them worked really hard to try and break my curse, but they could never really undo all of it. That's okay though!"

Izuku hummed in delight as he brought his outstretched hand closer, the fireflies bright and glowing, making his face seem somehow even more beautiful. "Just being like this is enough for me. I love all of my friends, and I'm forever grateful for them to get so far along in the first place. The witch was a really powerful one, and the magic on me isn't something you see everyday. For wizards like Kacchan and fairies like Ochako-san who had no training whatsoever to get this far… They're amazing."

Shouto's breath hitched at the genuine affection on Izuku's face at the mention of their friends. The witch, Izuku had said, had given him wings as a mocking of his heart, but Shouto thinks she may have given it to him just out of pure necessity. Indeed, Izuku's soul was too pure for anything else - as they sat there, baking in the light of the moon and fireflies, Shouto felt his heart throb almost painfully.

"You're amazing too," Shouto said out loud on accident.

Oh.

Immediately, both boys recoiled at the comment, whipping their heads away to stare awkwardly in the opposite direction. Shouto could feel his entire face heat up, and he was mentally cursing at himself - god, he was so blunt! It honestly wasn't on purpose, and usually he'd never say things verbally without thinking it through, but just being around Izuku was enough to scramble his thoughts. Unbelievable - his first friend, and Shouto already made things weird between them.

Taking a breath, Shouto shouldered on, and said bravely, "d… do you remember what I said this morning?"

Izuku let out a noise similar to that of a squeak, and he whipped his head to stare widely at the prince. Hesitantly, he nodded, face dark with his blush.

Shouto cleared his throat, and he squeezed Izuku's hand gently, tangling their fingers even more. "I told you I'd stay by your side, and I wasn't lying, Izuku. You never break promises - I don't, either. And I'm going to make another promise right now."

Shouto raised his right hand, and twisting his waist to fully face him, he stroked Izuku's wing carefully. "These wings were given to you from a curse, a curse that doesn't let you feel the warmth of the sun, or let you feel something besides the chill of the night. I'm sorry for that - so I promise to break it."

"Shoucchan - "

" _No_ , Izuku," Shouto interrupted in a firm voice. "Before yesterday, I felt like nothing more than a puppet for my father's strings. But now, I can firmly say that you are my first friend - and you've given me _even more_ friends. I may not have magic, but I'm also a prince. I hold a lot of power, and I bet I can find that witch quickly so she can fully break that curse on you. If not, then I'll open access for Katsuki and the others to explore libraries and whatever they need."

"I want to help you," Shouto murmured gently this time. "And I will."

"Shoucchan," Izuku sobbed.

Alarmed, Shouto looked up, and he felt fear strike him as he realized that indeed the stone angel was crying. His eyes were wide and overflowing with tears, the water dripping down his freckled cheeks and leaving behind dark trails, dripping off of his chin and splattering his lightly heaving chest.

"Izuku! Are you okay? Did I say something wrong? What - "

"It's just," Izuku shook his head, interrupting the prince fully. Izuku smiled - beamed, actually. His grin was radiant. "You told me you were afraid of being like your father, who I know from you as a cruel and unloving man. Shoucchan, I don't know how you can think that - you're so caring, you're so _kind_. You're not anything like him at all."

Izuku pressed closer as well, and slowly, his wings enveloped the both of them, blocking off the moonlight and their faces glowing a soft green from the few fireflies trapped between them. Izuku's face was impossibly soft, his touch even softer as he grasped Shouto's other hand and pressed themselves almost completely together, foreheads touching and breaths intermingling.

"You're Shouto - my friend, my Shoucchan," Izuku whispered. "Thank you."

Shouto let out a breathless laugh, the air crackling with magic and emotions and something else he couldn't quite put a name on. His heart was pumping at a dangerously high rate as he said, "stop thanking me for nothing, Izuku."

Izuku merely laughed.

 **XxXxXxXxXxX**

 **Thank you all for the kind compliments! Take some more Tododeku fluff 333**

 **You can find me on tumblr at redyarns :D**


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